Center Of My Universe
by troyellalove1
Summary: Troy has never loved Gabriella more. Now, he's decided it's time to propose...by taking her to lie on the beach with him as the sun's coming up. Neither one of them can ignore the fact that they were meant to be. A short and romantic Troyella oneshot. Enjoy!


**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own any of this. All credit goes to Disney.

**CENTER OF MY UNIVERSE**

They talk about how everything is new and perfect in the beginning. Troy had known Gabriella for eight years; since high school. He had never been more mesmerized by her and it was time to make a lifelong commitment to her. Troy had spent a long time thinking about exactly how he wanted it to be done. They both were living together in Delaware, roughly ten miles from the shore, where Troy decided he wanted to propose to Gabriella while the sun was coming up.

Now, it was June, and 6:00 where they were. Troy looked over at Gabriella, who was walking into the living room. "Gabriella, come here."

"I was coming over anyway. We just set a record; it's ninety-one degrees out. The warmest it's been all year." She sat down on the couch next to him.

"Gabriella, I was thinking tomorrow we could get up really early and drive over to the shore. Like we wake up at five thirty and go over before sunrise."

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, laughing. "Since when have you wanted to get up early? I always end up dragging you out of bed at ten."

"Well, this time it's gonna be different. And actually, remember how that one time we went before you loved the really high waves? We could stay for a while...like till noon or something. And go out to the really high waves."

"Oh that would be awesome! What gave you the idea?"

"I just felt that would be something fun to do."

"So we'll get there by six? Cause the sun's coming up a bit after that."

"Alright. So we'll go to bed early tonight so we don't pass out tomorrow. Then we'll set the alarm for 5:30. From there, just put on your suit on and clothes over top, then we'll head over."

She smiled and pressed against him.

He kissed her on top of the head. "Then we'll watch the sun rise on the beach."

"That sounds perfect."

Troy looked over in the other room, in the direction he'd hidden the ring. The best time to show it would be when the sky was the most intensely covered in pink. She would absolutely love it.

"Do you want to watch something?"

Troy looked back down at her. "You mean like a movie?"

"Yeah. Titanic."

He smiled. "You love that movie, don't you."

"I love it. I love watching it with you and I know you also like that."

"I do. So alright, we aren't really doing anything. Titanic it is." He got up and walked over to the TV. Gabriella pulled out the DVD from underneath it and popped it in.

Every time they watched it together, Gabriella cried when Jack died. Troy loved how sensitive she was but hated seeing her cry.

"Troy, shut it off. I don't need to see this I know what happens."

He was happy to try to lighten her mood, especially when the proposal was less than twelve hours away. Gabriella quickly calmed down and they went upstairs early so they could get up before six.

The morning of the proposal

Gabriella looked over at the buzzing clock. Her arm instinctively hit the snooze button. She resolved to get up ten minutes later when it went off again, and put her arm back down.

"Troy..."

He didn't respond. The alarm hadn't even woken him up. She smiled and rolled on top of him, resting her head down on his chest. Her eyes closed and she started wondering how she would be able to get out of bed so early. The room was quiet, peaceful, she was tired and Troy was underneath her, so why would she ever want to leave?

The minutes ticked by, and Gabriella heard the buzzing sound again. She groaned and shut it off. Troy was still asleep. Gabriella lifted her head so her curls were dangling over Troy's face. She lowered them a bit and moved her head back and forth so her hair tickled his forehead and eyelids.

Troy turned his head over and his eyes opened a bit. Gabriella leaned into his cheek and kissed him. "Wake up baby, this was your idea." She smiled and stroked his forehead.

He smiled weakly and his eyes opened all the way. "It's five thirty?"

"On the dot."

Troy stretched and rolled over out of bed. "Let's hope I don't fall asleep driving."

"If you do, and I die, I'm gonna be really mad at you." She laughed.

Troy walked out of the room and grabbed his bathing suit and some clothes. "I'll be downstairs." He ran into the morning room and got the box with the ring in it. After putting it in his pocket, he went into the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, they were walking into the garage towards the car. Troy opened the garage door and they both got into the front.

"So Troy, it's about a ten minute drive?"

"About ten minutes." He started to back the car out. "We'll get there by sunrise."

As they drove down the faded road, Troy felt his pocket. He knew it would still be there; he just had to keep confirming. Gabriella Montez was the most amazing girl he had ever known and that he would ever lay eyes on, and there were no regrets as they headed closer to where the proposal would happen.

"The sky's getting a dull pink, Troy. We made it."

"Just barely in time." He turned off the road and headed down to where the quiet, calm beach was waiting. The stars were still in the sky and the waves weren't reaching any higher than a couple of feet. Later in the day, though, they would be awesome.

When they pulled up into the parking lot, Troy and Gabriella brought only themselves and a towel on the short walk to the sand.

"Gabriella, look over there. There's a huge open patch and it's really smooth."

"I don't really care where we go, but that looks great."

They spread the towel out when they stopped walking, and Gabriella sat down on it. Troy lay down behind her on his back. She stretched out so she was on her back and on top of him, all except for her head, which was touching the side of his.

"So here we are."

Gabriella smiled. "At six in the morning. The sun's almost up and we aren't in bed...we're lying on a towel looking at the waves and watching the sky turn pink."

"At six o'clock, that's better than being in bed."

"Definitely."

Troy's eyes shifted onto Gabriella as he stroked the box in his pocket. Her curls were hanging down, and two of them were on Troy's face. Her cheeks felt soft and smooth, and her eyes were glistening with the reflection of the pink sky. "I love you."

She looked over at him and smiled. "I love you too. And it's great to be out here with you."

"Have you ever thought about the changes in life? Like how when you were a kid you looked at adults like another species but now it's like...what happened? Almost as if you didn't notice time going by."

"It does seem like that. But then again, great things come when you're grown up that you didn't have before. You lose things from your childhood, but gain things when you shift into adulthood. So it cancels out."

"Well, in a lot of ways, I'm glad that I'm at the age I'm at. The things I have now I'm pretty satisfied with, and it's great to look forward to another likely change. Marriage."

Gabriella smiled at Troy. "I know. That's the one I can't wait for. You know how much I want that with you and how good I feel to be around you."

"You know that I also want to live with you forever, right?"

"I know."

They lay there for a while and the sky got brighter as the first part of the sun started to show. Troy sensed Gabriella's presence more and more as the time got closer.

She had him fascinated for what seemed like forever. Since he first saw her in school, looking so shy and scared, he knew she was special. It was just so amazing to be with her all the time, and he thought about all the times they'd shared together. All the times they'd seen the sun go down together. Troy remembered the first night they spent with each other, and how amazing it felt to watch her and know that she would be there all night. That was something he hadn't ever taken for granted. He thought about the first time he told her he loved her. And all the times he'd held her while she cried, not caring about anything else in the world besides the fact that the thing he lived for needed him. There were so many times and days and nights where they'd both been thrilled by each other, and just being together and realizing how much they needed to be with each other were great experiences. Troy was completely ready to spend his life with her.

The sun was about a third of the way up, and now the tops of the trees had that light on them. "Gabriella..."

She opened her eyes a bit and looked up at him. "Hmm?"

"I need you to wake up. All the way."

"Well I was already pretty awake but why?"

"Because I want to ask you something."

"Alright."

She sat up and pulled herself closer to Troy. Gabriella had both her arms around his back and he placed his left hand on the side of her face. She blinked a few times to wake herself up all the way. There was a little space between us for where Troy would hold the ring.

"I know you love me as a husband."

Her smile spread across her entire face. "Of course I do Troy."

"Well, I just wanted to tell you how much I love you."

"I already know that you love me as a wife; you've told me so many times."

Troy reached into his pocket and took the ring out of its box. He put it on the towel next to them so she couldn't see it and brought both hands back up into her view.

"Well, you know that I can't describe in words how much you mean to me. And that I would spend my entire life with you and never question it once."

"I know."

"And do you feel the same way about me?"

"Yes. I would never even have to think about that."

"And you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"I want that more than anything. And I know you feel the same way too."

"That's how I feel. So Gabriella…" Troy reached his right hand down and picked it up.

"Yes?"

"Remember how I talked about the turning points in life?"

She nodded and looked at him. It was probably occurring to her what Troy was doing but she didn't think that moment could ever actually come. It's one of those things you know will happen to you, but you get so used to having it in your future that when the event actually occurs, it takes you by surprise.

"This is one of those." he put the ring between them. She looked at it and her eyes widened.

"Troy…"

He smiled. "Gabriella Montez…"

She opened her mouth to say something but stopped. Her eyes were trapped on the ring, which was an engagement ring with a shiny light blue diamond in the middle surrounded by a small ring of gold. When she looked back at Troy, he stared right into her eyes. They were filling with tears.

"Will you marry me?"

"Troy! Of course I will!" She started stuttering and Troy couldn't understand her as she cried more. She wrapped her arms the rest of the way around him and squeezed to the point of suffocating. Her head was right under his chin and her face was pressed into his neck. Troy lay back down so she was on top of him.

"I love you Gabriella."

"I love you too." Her tears were pouring down her face.

Troy kissed her on top of her head and she pulled closer towards him. He reached under her chin and gently pulled it up so her eyes were looking into his. Troy wiped the remaining tears off her face and she stared at him with an expression of ultimate hope. "I'll always love you."

The sun was almost up all the way and Troy's head was filled with relief. He didn't feel like he could go through life without her, and it was great to know that they would actually be spending their lives together. There was so much in their future to look forward to. All the great times they'd share together were still ahead of them. The sun was coming up on just one of the endless days they would be together, and both were ready to charge into life, side by side.


End file.
